Hello Kitty!

What's cuter than a kittien?  FOUR kittens, that's what!  These little cuties were born July 5th.

There are two tigers who look exactly the same, one is all black except one little white spot on the chest, and that cute little black and white.  What a face!!

Here they are 2 weeks later...

Love them all!  Their mommy is Dottie - do you remember her?  She tried to be an inside kitty, but she prefers the great outdoors. She is such a good mommy - always very aware of what is going on around her.  The kittens are getting big enough now that they are wanting to explore a little bit, which is making Dottie very nervous.

I've been doing more than just admiring kittens (even though it's tempting to just watch them play all day!).  This pendant and earrings was a special order for a customer.  I'm glad that some of you are liking the added bling.

I sold the ones on my website, so I made a few more hearts...

I have been working like crazy on the blings for Charming 3, and after a few days of it, I am getting faster!  If you haven't signed up for Charming 3, go do it now!  We've had a great response so far, but there are still spaces left, so now is the time!  Quantities are limited, and when it's full, sign ups will close and that will be it until next year.

I am keeping up on the prep work for Primitive Gatherings Summer block of the week.  But, I'm not even close to being caught up on the stitching - I'm only on block 2!  Here's one that is all prepped and ready to go!

Now I'm off to pet those adorable babies!

Cruising and stitching

It was great to be able to get some stitching done while I was in Florida. Bud Garden is a kit that I bought last fall when I helped in Primitive Gatherings' booth at the Des Moines AQS show.  I prepped them all a long time ago, so all that is left to do is stitch.  They really go fast (amazing how that happens when you actually sit down and work on something!).  Here are a few that I worked on by the pool...

For now they are put away, but it's nice to have a start on them.

Here are a few more pictures from Florida.  We took a drive one day and my brother showed me this house that he loves...

Such a pretty house and so Florida-like :)

These bushes are all along one side of my brother's house.  He had just trimmed them way back, so they aren't as full as normal...

And a few pictures of the tile inside the house.  This one is in the shower - if I were to make this as a quilt block, the border would have to be red!

This is inside the front door, wouldn't it be a nice applique block?

I missed Callie and Ozzie when I was gone, but I did get a "kitty fix" one day! 

He looks grumpy in this picture, but he really wasn't! 

Here's what Ozzie was up to when I was gone.  He's way too tired to stand up and drink - he has to lay down to do it! 

And some jewelry that we recently finished...

Have you signed up for Charming 3?  Go to my website to see the details

That's all for now - hope you have a great day!

Fun in the sun

I can't believe that it's already been over a month ago, but I still wanted to show you some pictures of my trip to Florida.  Besides stitching by the pool, we drove around and looked at stuff, hit some quilt shops, had some good meals, and best of all, spent some time with my niece, Emma!

These pics are at The Quilt Lover's Hangout, in Ft. Myers.  If you are ever in the area, be sure to visit this shop - it is really nice.  I've been there several times, and make a point to go every time I'm in Florida

I also got my brother to take me to an awesome bead shop...

I've been buying lots of beads and blingy stuff to offer a "Bag o' Bling" with Charming 3. I was in the shop forever, because I had no idea what I was looking for.  My brother stayed out in the truck and yakked on the phone.  I was amazed at how much patience he had for me the whole trip.


There's lots of nice scenery in Florida, but my favorite palm tree is this...(I can never remember the name of them!)

 This is my 2nd favorite - the Pineapple Palm.  It seemed like most of these that we saw didn't look really great, but I liked this one, and one of the neighbors have a couple that are really nice.

The biggest reason that my brother wanted to make this trip is because they were building a new sea wall on one of his properties.  He and dad got to see them work on it - I think Dad really enjoyed that.  They were all finished by the time I got there, so I was only able to see the finished product!

We did very little cooking while there (what am I saying?  I did NO cooking, and Johnny cooked breakfast once!).  It's just easier to go out. Emma lives very nearby, so she came over every night after she got off work, and went out with us.  Here is what I had at Bubba's (it was really good!), they have amazing salads and corn bread too...

Then one morning we ate at a small place known for their coffee (the name escapes me...after all...it has been over a month!).  This was my breakfast (which held me over until the next day!)...

And, saving the best for last - this is my niece, Emma.  I told her to pose so I could send her picture to Grandma (my mom!).

We really had a fun time and it was so nice just to relax and do whatever we felt like doing!

Have a great weekend!

Charming 3

We've been working to get everything all ready for Charming 3 and have finally released it for sale on the website.  Here are all of the details...

(These are samples only – actual charms in the program will vary)

The Program: This is a 12 month program - you will receive charms bi-monthly, with a total of 6 charms.  To start the program, you will purchase the bracelet and/or necklace, and the first charm.  Every other month you will receive a new charm to add to your bracelet.  For those who participated in the Charming 1 program, some of these charms will be similar, but they will be all different from Charming 2.

New This Year:

·         Get a bracelet or a necklace – or both!

·         Choose either bright or dark fabrics

·         Purchase a “Bag o’ Bling” – this will include six pieces, similar to what is shown on the necklaces above.

The Details:  These cute little charms are just ¾” in size.  Bracelet length is the standard 7 ¼” - we can make it longer, upon request.  The necklace is 26”. 

The Rules:  The program will start in October, 2014.  Charms will be mailed out the first week of October and bi-monthly after that.  Again, this is a 12 month commitment – please sign up only if you intend to stay in for the entire program.

The Price:  The cost of the necklace is $15.00, the bracelet is $10.00 and the charms are only $16.50 each! Each Bag o’ Bling is $20.00.  For every new charm I will send an electronic invoice payable via credit card or PayPal.  If you would prefer to pay by credit card, please let me know and I will call you to get that information to keep on file.

Added Fun:  As a fun bonus, I will e-mail you a matching 6” paper piecing pattern with each new charm so you can make a matching quilt

Sign Me Up!: Don’t delay - there are limited spaces available, so sign up now to be included in this fun program.  Charming 3 will be offered on my website for a limited time only – to sign up go to:  www.meandmystitches.com and purchase Charming 3 under the “Go Shopping” tab.  

Have a great week!

Happy Independence Day!

For all of us in the U.S., it will be a nice, long holiday weekend. And in my neck of the woods (wonder where that phrase originated? Lol), the weather is beautiful.  Twenty degrees below normal!  Yesterday the high temp was 66 degrees.  I know a lot of people like the hot weather and think that is too chilly for July, but I like it.  It was down to 55 degrees last night - great sleeping weather!

I wanted to share some of my patriotic pieces that we have worked on recently...

 And here is something new that we tried.  My friend, Kim (from KimmyKats blog) makes amazing jewelry, and she came to give me a lesson one day!  The one on the left looks like it's hanging crooked, but it's really not.  I just put these on my website - so go there if you are interested in purchasing either of these.

That's all for now...have a fun holiday weekend!  We will have having some visitors and a birthday party - more on that later.

Have a great day!

And the winner is....

The winner of the Starburst pattern is....

Heather - who said..."I'm a follower and I really love Bonnie Hunter's patterns.  It's tough to pick just one,, but if I had to, I'd say well, I don't know what I'd say!?!"

So...Heather - just as soon as you e-mail me a note with your address, I will get that pattern in the mail to you!

In other news...I recently took a little trip to Florida!  My brother has a second home in Ft. Myers and his oldest daughter, Emma, lives nearby.  My brother and his family go there several times a year, but my dad has never made the trip.  So this time the two of them drove down.  I flew in a week later, then Dad flew home, and I rode home with Johnny.  We didn't do too much in the way of sight seeing - which is fine with me.  I did some of this...

Ahhh...stitching by the pool!

I love his pool - he hates it! Too much maintenance.  That is the bad thing about having a house there - so many things to do when you do go visit.  He had to tear a couple of trees out of the front yard.  And it's a little different than living on a farm n Iowa where you just cut down the tree and burn it.  In Florida, you have to bundle everything up in nice, neat little bundles and leave it on the curb for pick up.  So, we got that all taken care of while we were there.  Next post, I will share some of the fun things that we did!

Have an awesome holiday weekend!